Apparatus and method for access control on eSIM

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a communication technique that combines a 5G communication system for supporting a data rate that is higher than that of a beyond 4G system with IoT technology, and a system thereof. The present disclosure may be applied to intelligent services on the basis of 5G communication technology and IoT related technology, such as smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car or connected car, health care, digital education, retail, security and safety related services. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and a method in which a terminal performs communication connection by downloading and installing a communication service in a communication system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to a Korean Patent Application Serial No. 10-2017-0019257, which wasfiled in the Korean Patent Office on Feb. 13, 2017, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus and a methodfor communication connection in a communication system by downloadingand installing a communication service onto a terminal, and moreparticularly, to an apparatus and a method for downloading, installing,and managing a profile online in a communication system.

Description of Related Art

In order to meet the demand for wireless data traffic that is on anincreasing trend after commercialization of 4G communication systems,efforts have been made to develop improved 5G or pre-5G communicationsystem. For this reason, the 5G or pre-5G communication system is alsocalled a beyond 4G network communication system or a post LTE system.

In order to achieve high data rate, implementation of a 5G communicationsystem in an ultrahigh frequency (mmWave) band (e.g., like 60 GHz band)has been considered. In order to mitigate a path loss of radio waves andto increase a transfer distance of the radio waves in the ultrahighfrequency band, technologies of beamforming, massive MIMO, fulldimension MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antennas, hybrid beamforming, and largescale antennas for the 5G communication system have been discussed.

Further, for system network improvement in the 5G communication system,technology developments have been made for an evolved small cell,advanced small cell, cloud radio access network (cloud RAN), ultra-densenetwork, device to device communication (D2D), wireless backhaul, movingnetwork, cooperative communication, coordinated multi-points (CoMP), andreception interference Cancellation.

In addition, in the 5G system, hybrid FSK and QAM modulation (FQAM) andsliding window superposition coding (SWSC), which correspond to advancedcoding modulation (ACM) systems, and filter bank multicarrier (FBMC),non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and sparse code multiple access(SCMA), which correspond to advanced connection technologies, have beendeveloped.

On the other hand, the Internet, which is a human centered connectivitynetwork where humans generate and consume information, is now evolvingto the Internet of things (IoT) where distributed entities, such asthings, exchange and process information. The Internet of everything(IoE), which is a combination of the IoT technology and big dataprocessing technology through connection with a cloud server, hasemerged. As technology elements, such as sensing technology,wired/wireless communication and network infrastructure, serviceinterface technology, and security technology, have been demanded forIoT implementation, a sensor network for machine-to-machine connection,machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication(MTC), and so forth have been recently researched. Such an IoTenvironment may provide intelligent Internet technology (IT) servicesthat create a new value to human life by collecting and analyzing datagenerated among connected things. The IoT may be applied to a variety offields including smart home, smart building, smart city, smart car orconnected cars, smart grid, health care, smart appliances and advancedmedical services through convergence and combination between theexisting information technology (IT) and various industries.

Accordingly, various attempts have been made to apply the 5Gcommunication system to IoT networks. For example, technologies ofsensor network, machine to machine (M2M) communication, and MTC havebeen implemented by techniques for beam-forming, MIMO, and arrayantennas, which correspond to the 5G communication technology. As thebig data processing technology as described above, application of acloud radio access network (RAN) would be an example of convergencebetween the 5G technology and the IoT technology.

A universal integrated circuit card (UICC) is a smart card that may beinserted into a mobile communication terminal or the like. The UICC mayinclude an access control module for accessing a network of a mobilecommunication service provider. Examples of an access control moduleinclude a universal subscriber identity module (USIM), a subscriberidentity module (SIM), and an Internet protocol (IP) multimedia serviceidentity module (ISIM). A UICC including a USIM may be referred to as aUSIM card. Similarly, a UICC including a SIM module may be referred toas a SIM card. Herein, a SIM card will be assumed to include the UICCcard, the USIM card, and the UICC including the ISIM. However, althoughthe SIM card is described, the technical characteristic thereof may alsobe applied to the USIM card, the ISIM card, or a general UICC card inthe same manner.

The SIM card stores personal information of a mobile communicationsubscriber, and allows the subscriber to use safe mobile communicationsby performing subscriber authentication and traffic security keygeneration during accessing to a mobile communication network.

In general, a SIM card is manufactured as a dedicated card for aspecific mobile communication service provider during manufacturing ofthe card, and authentication information for accessing a network of thecorresponding service provider, e.g., a USIM application (app) and IMSI,a K value (a subscriber key), and an OPc value (an operator variantalgorithm configuration value), is embedded in advance in the cardbefore shipping. Accordingly, the manufactured SIM card is delivered tothe corresponding mobile communication service provider, and is thenprovided by the mobile communication service provider to the subscriber.Thereafter, if needed, management, such as installation, correction, anddeletion, of applications in the UICC may be performed using technology,such as over-the-air (OTA). The subscriber can use the network andapplication services of the corresponding mobile communication serviceprovider by inserting the UICC card into a subscriber's mobilecommunication terminal.

When subscriber replaces the terminal, the UICC card may be removed fromthe existing terminal and inserted into a new terminal, thereby allowingthe new terminal to use the authentication information, mobilecommunication phone number, personal phonebook, etc., stored in the UICCcard.

However, the SIM card is inconvenient to use when a mobile communicationterminal user want to change service providers, i.e., receive a servicefrom a new mobile communication service provider, because the user mustphysically acquire a new SIM card for the service from the new mobilecommunication service provider. For example, when traveling to a newcountry, the terminal user should purchase a local SIM card in order toreceive the local mobile communication service in the new country.Although a roaming service may somewhat solve the problem ofinconvenience, the user may be unable to or not want to receive theroaming service due to expensive fees or nonexistent agreement betweencommunication service providers.

However, when a SIM module is remotely downloaded and installed in aUICC card, the problem as described above can be addressed. That is, theuser can download a new SIM module for the mobile communication servicedesired to be used into the UICC card at a desired time. A plurality ofSIM modules may be downloaded and installed in the UICC card, and one ofthe downloaded SIM modules may be selected to be used. The UICC card maybe or may not be fixed to the terminal.

In particular, a UICC that is fixed to a terminal is commonly referredto as an embedded UICC (eUICC). Herein, an eUICC refers to a UICC card,which is normally fixed within a terminal, and can remotely download andselect a SIM module. That is, a UICC card that is fixed within or is notfixed within the terminal and is capable of remotely downloading andselecting a SIM module is referred to as the eUICC. Further, downloadedSIM module information may be referred to as an eUICC profile or aprofile.

A terminal may include software that controls the eUICC operation, e.g.,operating to download, select, or delete an eUICC profile. Herein, suchsoftware may be referred to as a local profile assistant (LPA), whichmay be unique software that controls the eUICC by receiving an inputfrom other software included in the terminal.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus and amethod for a terminal to perform a communication connection using aselected communication service in a communication system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus anda method for a terminal to download, install, and manage a profile for acommunication connection in a communication system.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide an apparatus anda method for efficiently controlling access of terminal software to aneUICC in a communication system.

In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method isprovided for transmitting and receiving UICC related information by aterminal in a wireless communication system. The method includestransmitting, to a first server, a first message including a challengegenerated by a UICC of the terminal; receiving, from the first server, asecond message including a signature generated by a second server, inresponse to the challenge; and validating the signature via the UICC ofthe terminal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a terminalis provided for transmitting and receiving UICC related information in awireless communication system. The terminal includes a transceiver; anda controller coupled with the transceiver and configured to: control thetransceiver to transmit, to a first server, a first message including achallenge generated by a UICC of the terminal, control the transceiverto receive, from the first server, a second message including asignature generated by a second server, in response to the challenge,and validate the signature via the UICC of the terminal.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a method isprovided transmitting and receiving UICC related information by a firstserver in a wireless communication system. The method includesreceiving, from a terminal, a first message including a challengegenerated by a UICC of the terminal; and transmitting, to the terminal,a second message including a signature generated by a second server, inresponse to the challenge, wherein the signature is validated by theterminal via the UICC.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a firstserver is provided for transmitting and receiving UICC relatedinformation in a wireless communication system. The first serverincludes a transceiver; and a controller coupled with the transceiverand configured to: control the transceiver to receive, from a terminal,a first message including a challenge generated by a UICC of theterminal, and control the transceiver to transmit, to the terminal, asecond message including a signature generated by a second server, inresponse to the challenge, wherein the signature is validated by theterminal via the UICC.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the present disclosure will be more apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for a terminal to connect to a mobilecommunication network using a UICC embedded with a fixed profile;

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate configurations of a terminal, a profileserver, a service provider server, a service provider app, an LPA, andan eUICC, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for performing access authority verificationof a service provider app in two stages of offline authentication andonline authentication according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for omitting an online authentication withrespect to verification two or more times, if an access authority of aservice provider app is verified multiple times according to anembodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates an online authentication method in which an LPAaccesses a service provider server through a service provider appaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates an online authentication method in which an LPAdirectly accesses a service provider server according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aneUICC in an online authentication method in which the LPA accesses aservice provider server through a service provider app according to anembodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aneUICC in an online authentication method in which the LPA directlyaccesses a service provider server according to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aprofile server in an online authentication method in which the LPAaccesses a service provider server through a service provider appaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aprofile server in an online authentication method in which the LPAdirectly accesses a service provider server according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aneUICC and a profile server in an online authentication method in whichthe LPA accesses a service provider server through a service providerapp according to an embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA receives help from aneUICC and a profile server in an online authentication method in whichthe LPA directly accesses a service provider server according to anembodiment;

FIG. 13 illustrates a procedure in which an LPA uses a key pre-shared ina service provider app and a profile server in an online authenticationmethod in which the LPA accesses the profile server according to anembodiment;

FIG. 14 illustrates a procedure in which a service provider app performsonline authentication with respect to all LPA function calls twice, ifthe service provider app downloads a profile through the LPA functioncalls twice, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 15 illustrates a procedure in which a service provider app omitsonline authentication using a timer with respect to the second LPAfunction call, if the service provider app downloads a profile throughLPA function calls twice, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 16 illustrates a procedure in which a service provider app omitsonline authentication using a token with respect to the second LPAfunction call, if the service provider app downloads a profile throughLPA function calls twice, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 17 illustrates a terminal according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 18 illustrates a server according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription, specific details such as detailed configuration andcomponents are merely provided to assist the overall understanding ofthese embodiments of the present disclosure. Therefore, it should beapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications of the embodiments described herein can be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. Inaddition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions areomitted for clarity and conciseness.

In the accompanying drawings, some elements are exaggerated, omitted, orroughly illustrated. Further, sizes of the illustrated elements may notcompletely reflect the actual sizes thereof. Additionally, the same orsimilar drawing reference numerals may be used for the same or similarelements across various figures.

Each block or step of the flowchart illustrations, and combinations ofthe blocks or steps in the flowchart illustrations, can be implementedby computer program instructions. These computer program instructionscan be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create a device for implementing the functions specified inthe flowchart blocks or steps. The computer program instructions may bestored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory that can directa computer or another programmable data processing apparatus to functionin a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in thecomputer-usable or computer-readable memory produce an article ofmanufacture including instruction means that implement the functionspecified in the flowchart blocks or steps. The computer programinstructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus to instruct a series of operational steps tobe performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to producea computer implemented process such that the instructions that executeon the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps forimplementing the functions specified in the flowchart blocks or steps.

Each block or step of the flowchart illustrations may represent amodule, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or moreexecutable instructions for implementing the specified logicalfunction(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted inthe blocks or steps may occur in a different order. For example, twoblocks or steps shown in succession may in fact be executedsubstantially concurrently or in a reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved.

Herein, the term “unit” may refer to a software or hardware component,such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which performs certaintasks. However, “unit” does not necessarily refer to software orhardware. A “unit” may advantageously be configured to reside on theaddressable storage medium and configured to execute on one or moreprocessors. Thus, a “unit” may include software components,object-oriented software components, class components and taskcomponents, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines,segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data,databases, data structures, tables, arrays, variables, etc. Thefunctionality provided for in the components and “units” may be combinedinto fewer components and “units” or further separated into additionalcomponents and “units”. Further, the components and “units” may beimplemented to operate one or more central processing units (CPUs) in adevice or a security multimedia card. Further, a “unit” may include oneor more processors.

Specific terms used in the following description are provided to helpunderstanding of the present disclosure, and may be modified indifferent forms within a range that does not deviate from the technicalidea of the present disclosure.

Herein, a UICC is a smart card that may be inserted into a mobilecommunication terminal. and the UICC stores personal information, suchas network access authentication information of a mobile communicationsubscriber, a phonebook, and a short messaging service (SMS), and cansafely use the mobile communication by performing subscriberauthentication and traffic security key generation when accessing amobile communication network, such as Global System for Mobilecommunication (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiplexing Access (WCDMA),and LTE.

In the UICC, communication applications, such as a SIM, a USIM, and anISIM, are embedded in accordance with the type of the mobilecommunication network accessed by the subscriber, and the UICC mayprovide an upper-level security function for embedding of variousapplications, such as an e-wallet application, a ticketing application,and an e-passport application.

An eUICC is a chip type security module which is embedded in (or fixedwithin) the terminal. The eUICC may download and install a profile usingan OTA technique. The eUICC may be referred to as a UICC in which aprofile download and installation can be performed.

In the disclosure, a method for downloading and installing a profile inthe eUICC using the OTA technique may be applied to a detachable typeUICC that can be inserted into or detached from the terminal. That is,an embodiment of the present disclosure, which is described withreference to an eUICC, may also be applied to a UICC that is capable ofdownloading and installing a profile using the OTA technique.

Herein, the term “UICC” may be interchangeably used with SIM, and theterm “eUICC” may be interchangeably used with eSIM.

Herein, the profile may refer the packaging of an application, a filesystem, and an authentication key value stored in the UICC in the formof software.

A “USIM profile” may have the same meaning as a “profile”, or may meanthe packaging of information included in the USIM application in theprofile in the form of software.

A profile providing server may generate a profile, encrypt the generatedprofile, generate a remote profile management command, and/or encryptthe generated remote profile management command. The profile providingserver may also be referred to as a subscription manager datapreparation (SM-DP) a subscription manger data preparation plus(SM-DP+), an off-card entity of profile domain, a profile encryptionserver, a profile generation server, a profile provisioner (PP), aprofile provider, or a profile provisioning credentials holder (PPCholder).

A profile management server may be referred to as a subscription managersecure routing (SM-SR), a subscription manger secure routing plus(SM-SR+), an off-card entity of eUICC profile manager, a profilemanagement credentials (PMC) holder, or an eUICC manager (EM).

A profile providing server may also include the functionality of theprofile management server. Accordingly, in accordance with variousembodiments of the present disclosure, it is also possible that theoperations of the profile providing server are performed by the profilemanagement server. It is also possible the operations described withrespect to the profile management server or SM-SR may be performed bythe profile providing server.

Herein, a terminal may include a mobile station (MS), a user equipment(UE), a user terminal (UT), a wireless terminal, an access terminal(AT), a subscriber unit, a subscriber station (SS), a wireless device, awireless communication device, a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU),a moving node, a mobile device, a cellular phone, a smart phone, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a portable computer,an imaging device, such as a digital camera, a gaming device, a musicstorage and reproduction device, an Internet home appliance, or aportable unit or terminal integrating combinations of such functions.

Further, the terminal may include an M2M terminal, or MTCterminal/device, but is not limited thereto.

The terminal may also be referred to as an electronic device.

Herein, a UICC capable of downloading and installing a profile may beembedded in the electronic device (e.g., an eUICC), or may be physicallyseparable from the electronic device. For example, a card type UICC maybe inserted into the electronic device. The electronic device mayinclude the terminal, and the terminal may include a UICC configured todownload and install a profile.

The terminal or the electronic device may include first software or anapplication installed therein to control the UICC or the eUICC. Thefirst software or the application may be referred to as an LPA.

The terminal or the electronic device may include second software or anapplication that is permitted to access to the LPA. The second softwareor the application may be referred to as a service provider app.

The service provider app may pre-include an access address of a specificserver. The server configured to be accessed by the service provider appmay be referred to as a service provider server.

The terminal or the electronic device may include third software or anapplication that is not permitted to access to the LPA. The thirdsoftware or the application may be referred to as malware.

A profile discriminator may include a profile identifier (ID), anintegrated circuit card ID (ICCID), a machine ID, an event ID, anactivation code, an activation code token, issuer security domainprofile (ISD-P), or a factor matching a profile domain (PD). The profileID may indicate an inherent identifier of each profile. The profilediscriminator may include an address of a profile providing server(e.g., SM-DP+) capable of indexing the profile.

An eUICC ID (EID) may be an inherent identifier of the eUICC embedded inthe terminal. Further, if a provisioning profile has already beenembedded in the eUICC, the EID may be a profile ID of the correspondingprovisioning profile. Further, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure, if the terminal and the eUICC chip are not separatedfrom each other, the EID may be a terminal ID. Further, the EID may bereferred to as a specific secure domain of the eUICC chip.

A profile container may include a profile domain or a security domain.

An application protocol data unit (APDU) may be a message for theterminal to interlock with the eUICC. Further, the APDU may be a messagefor a PP or a profile manager (PM) to interlock with the eUICC.

An event may refer to profile download, remote profile management, oranother profile or eUICC management/processing command. The profiledownload may be interchangeably used with profile installation.

Further, an event type may indicate whether a specific event is aprofile download or a remote profile management, or whether the specificevent is another profile or eUICC management/processing command. Theevent type may include an event request type, an event class, or anevent request class.

A profile package may be interchangeably used with a profile, or may beused as a term indicating a data object of a specific profile. Theprofile package may include a profile type, length, and value (TLV) or aprofile package TLV. If the profile package is encrypted using anencryption parameter, it may be referred to as a protected profilepackage (PPP) or a PPP TLV.

If the profile package is encrypted using an encryption parameter thatcan be decrypted only by a specific eUICC, it may be referred to as abound profile package (BPP) or a BPP TLV. The profile package TLV mayinclude a data set expressing information that constitutes a profile ina TLV type.

A remote profile management (RPM) may be referred to as a profile remotemanagement, a remote management, a remote management command, a remotecommand, an RPM package, a profile remote management package, a remotemanagement package, a remote management command package, or a remotecommand package. The RPM may be used to change the state (e.g., enabled,disabled, or deleted) of a specific profile or to update the contents ofa specific profile (e.g., a profile nickname or a profile metadata).

An authentication and key agreement (AKA) may indicate an authenticationalgorithm for accessing to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and3GPP2 networks.

Herein, K is an encryption key value stored in the eUICC used for an AKAauthentication algorithm, and OPc is a parameter value that can bestored in the eUICC used for the AKA authentication algorithm.

A network access application (NAA) program, such as a USIM or an ISIM,may be stored in the UICC to access the network. The NAA may include anetwork access module.

FIG. 1 illustrates a method for a terminal to connect to a mobilecommunication network 100 using a UICC embedded with a profile fixed tothe terminal.

Referring to FIG. 1, a UICC 120 may be inserted into a terminal 110. TheUICC may be of a detachable type, or may be pre-embedded in the terminal110. The fixed profile of the UICC embedded with the fixed profileindicates that “access information” for accessing a specificcommunication service provider is fixed. The access information mayinclude a subscriber discriminator and a K value or a subkey (Ki) valuefor authentication in the network with the subscriber discriminator.

The terminal 110 may perform authentication with an authenticationprocessing system (e.g., a home location register (HLR) orauthentication center (AuC)) of a mobile communication service providerusing the UICC. The authentication process may include an AKA process.If the authentication has succeeded, the terminal 110 may use a mobilecommunication service, such as make a phone call or use mobile data,using a mobile communication network 130 of the mobile communicationsystem.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate configurations of a terminal (230), a profileserver (280), a service provider server (270), a service provider app(240), malware (245), an LPA (250), and an eUICC (260), according to anembodiment (200).

Referring to FIG. 2A, a terminal 230 includes an LPA 250 connected to aservice provider app 240 and an eUICC 260. The connection between theLPA 250 and the service provider app 240 follows a security procedure290 provided by an operating system (OS) of the terminal 230, fourthsoftware for security, or a physical interface connection. In thesecurity procedure 290, the OS of the terminal 230 verifies a hashing orsigning value using a public key or a digital certificate duringinstallation of the software or application, if the hashing or signingvalue of a program code of the software or application and the publickey used for the corresponding hashing or signing or the digitalcertificate in which the public key is stored are included in thesoftware or application.

The LPA 250 is also connected to a profile server (SM-DP+) 280, e.g.,through a transport layer security (TLS) security procedure.

The service provider app 240 is also connected to a service providerserver 270. The connection between the service provider app 240 and theservice provider server 270 may follow a security procedure optionallyselected by a service provider (e.g., a TLS connection or a symmetrickey based ciphering method).

Referring to FIG. 2B, in the terminal 230, malware 245, which is thirdsoftware, is installed, in addition to the LPA 250, which is firstsoftware, and the service provider app 240, which is second software.Access to the LPA 250 of the second software 240 or the third software245 may be permitted B or blocked A, in accordance with the securityprocedure 290 in the terminal 230.

If access to the LPA 250 by the service provider app 240 is permitted,the service provider app 240, at step 211, transfers a messagerequesting information of the eUICC 260 (e.g., a size of an availablestorage space) from the LPA 250. The LPA 250 may read the information ofthe eUICC 260 and reply to the service provider app 240.

At step 213, the service provider app 240 prepares a profile in aprofile server 280 using the acquired information of the eUICC. As theresult of the profile preparation, an activation code for profileinstallation may be generated.

At step 215, the service provider app 240 transfers the generatedactivation code to the LPA 250.

At step 217, the LPA 250 receives the profile downloaded from theprofile server 280 using the received activation code.

According to the above-described procedure, an access control withrespect to the LPA of the second or third software should depend on thesecurity procedure 290 in the terminal 230, and it is not possible forthe network (e.g., the service provider server 270) to manage theoperation in the terminal 230. Further, if access to the LPA 250 issuccessively made as at steps 211 and 215 in FIG. 2B, the terminal 230should efficiently process the successive access to improve theperformance of the terminal 230.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for performing an access authorityverification of a service provider app in two stages of offlineauthentication and online authentication, according to an embodiment(300).

Referring to FIG. 3, at step 301, the LPA 250 authenticates the serviceprovider app 240 offline. As described above with reference to FIG. 2A,the offline authentication at step 301 may use the function provided bythe terminal 230.

At step 305, the LPA 250 authenticates the service provider app 240online, through the service provider server 270. The onlineauthentication at step 305 may be performed such that the LPA 250accesses the service provider server 270 through the service providerapp 240, or the LPA 250 may directly access the service provider server270 at step 307 in accordance with the configuration of the LPA 250 orthe terminal 230.

Further, the LPA 250 accesses the eUICC 260 at step 309, and the serviceprovider server 270 accesses the profile server 280 at step 311.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for omitting an online authentication withrespect to verification two or more times, if an access authority of aservice provider app is verified multiple times, according to anembodiment (400).

Referring to FIG. 4, the LPA 250 and the service provider app 240initially verify an access authority to the LPA 250 of the serviceprovider app 240, e.g., in accordance with the procedure of FIG. 3, andif the offline authentication at step 301 and the online authenticationat step 303 have succeeded, the LPA 250 operates a timer or issues atoken with respect to the service provider app 240.

Thereafter, when re-verifying the access authority to the LPA 250 of thesame service provider app 240, the LPA 250, at step 401 forauthenticating the service provider app 240 offline, identifies whetherthe corresponding verification is performed before expiration of theterminal operating during the previous verification or a valid token isused. If the service provider app 240 that has succeeded in the previousverification is performed before the expiration of the timer or thevalid token has been used, the LPA 250 may thereafter omit the onlineauthentication at step 403.

FIG. 5 illustrates an online authentication method in which an LPAaccesses a service provider server through a service provider app toidentify the service provider app, according to an embodiment (500).

Referring to FIG. 5, at step 501, the service provider app 240 attemptsto call a specific function of the LPA 250. The corresponding access maybe transferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 503, the LPA 250 generates a challenge.

At step 505, the LPA 250 transfers the generated challenge to theservice provider server 270 through the service provider app 240 torequest a digital signature. An address of the service provider server270 may be preset in the service provider app 240 or the LPA 250, or maybe input from the user.

At step 507, the service provider server 270 performs a digitalsignature with respect to the received challenge. The digital signaturemay be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in the serviceprovider server 270 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 509, the service provider server 270 sends the generated digitalsignature to the LPA 250 through the service provider app 240, as areply. The reply may include the digital signature and one or moredigital certificates for verifying the digital signature.

At step 511, the LPA 250 attempts to verify the received digitalsignature. If the digital signature verification has succeeded, the LPA250 considers that the access authority of the service provider app 240has been approved, performs the function called by the service providerapp 240 (e.g., a profile download from the profile server), and notifiesthe service provider app 240 or the service provider server 270 of theresult of performing the function.

FIG. 6 illustrates an online authentication method in which an LPAdirectly accesses a service provider server to identify a serviceprovider app, according to an embodiment (600).

Referring to FIG. 6, at step 601, the service provider app 240 attemptsto call a specific function of the LPA 250. The corresponding access maybe transferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 603, the LPA 250 generates a challenge.

At step 605, the LPA 250 transfers the generated challenge directly tothe service provider server 270 to request a digital signature. Anaddress of the service provider server 270 may be preset in the LPA 250,may be transferred from the service provider app 240 at step 601, or maybe input from the user.

At step 607, the service provider server 270 performs a digitalsignature with respect to the received challenge. The digital signaturemay be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in the serviceprovider server 270 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 609, the service provider server 270 directly sends thegenerated digital signature to the LPA 250 as a reply. The reply mayinclude the digital signature and one or more digital certificates forverifying the digital signature.

At step 611, the LPA 250 attempts to verify the received digitalsignature. If the digital signature verification has succeeded, the LPA250 considers that the access authority of the service provider app 240has been approved, performs the function called by the service providerapp 240 (e.g., a profile download from the profile server), and notifiesthe service provider app 240 or the service provider server 270 of theresult of performing the function.

FIG. 7 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from an eUICC, when the LPA identifies a service providerapp by accessing a service provider server through the service providerapp, according to an embodiment (700).

Referring to FIG. 7, at step 701, the service provider app 240 attemptsto call a specific function of the LPA 250. The corresponding access maybe transferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 703, the LPA 250 requests an eUICC 260 to generate a challenge,and the eUICC 260 generates and sends the generated challenge to the LPA250 as a reply.

At step 705, the LPA 250 transfers the received challenge to the serviceprovider server 270 through the service provider app 240 to request adigital signature. An address of the service provider server 270 may bepreset in the service provider app 240 or the LPA 250, or may be inputfrom the user.

At step 707, the service provider server 270 performs a digitalsignature with respect to the received challenge. The digital signaturemay be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in the serviceprovider server 270 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 709, the service provider server 270 sends the generated digitalsignature to the LPA 250 through the service provider app 240 as areply. The reply may include the digital signature and one or moredigital certificates for verifying the digital signature.

At step 711, the LPA 250 transfers the received digital signature to theeUICC 260 in order to request verification of the digital signature. TheeUICC 260 may send the verification result of the digital signature tothe LPA 250 as a reply. If the digital signature verification throughthe eUICC 260 has succeeded, the LPA 250 considers that the accessauthority of the service provider app 240 has been approved, performsthe function called by the service provider app 240 (e.g., a profiledownload from the profile server), and notifies the service provider app240 or the service provider server 270 of the result of performing thefunction.

FIG. 8 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from an eUICC, when the LPA identifies a service providerapp by directly accessing a service provider server, according to anembodiment (800).

Referring to FIG. 8, at step 801, the service provider app 240 attemptsto call a specific function of the LPA 250. The corresponding access maybe transferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 803, the LPA 250 requests an eUICC 260 to generate a challenge.The eUICC may generate and send the generated challenge to the LPA 250as a reply.

At step 805, the LPA 250 directly transfers the received challenge tothe service provider server 270 in order to request a digital signature.An address of the service provider server 270 may be preset in the LPA250, may be transferred from the service provider app 240 at step 801,or may be input from the user.

At step 807, the service provider server 270 performs a digitalsignature with respect to the received challenge. The digital signaturemay be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in the serviceprovider server 270 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 809, the service provider server 270 directly sends thegenerated digital signature to the LPA 250 as a reply. The reply mayinclude the digital signature and one or more digital certificates forverifying the digital signature.

At step 811, the LPA 250 transfers the received digital signature to theeUICC 260 in order to request verification of the digital signature. TheeUICC 260 may send the verification result of the digital signature tothe LPA 250 as a reply. If the digital signature verification throughthe eUICC 260 has succeeded, the LPA 250 considers that the accessauthority of the service provider app 240 has been approved, performsthe function called by the service provider app 240 (e.g., a profiledownload from the profile server), and notifies the service provider app240 or the service provider server 270 of the result of performing thefunction.

FIG. 9 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from a profile server, when the LPA identifies a serviceprovider app by accessing a service provider server through the serviceprovider app, according to an embodiment (900).

Referring to FIG. 9, at step 901, the service provider app 240 attemptsto call a specific function of the LPA 250. The corresponding access maybe transferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 903, the LPA 250 generates a challenge.

At step 905, the LPA 250 transfers the generated challenge to theservice provider server 270 through the service provider app 240 torequest a digital signature. An address of the service provider server270 may be preset in the service provider app 240 or the LPA 250, or maybe input from the user.

At step 907, the service provider server 270 obtains a digital signatureof the profile server 280 by transferring the received challenge to theprofile server 280. An address of the profile server 280 may be presetin the service provider server 270. The digital signature may beperformed using a digital certificate pre-stored in the profile server280 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 909, the service provider server 270 sends the generated digitalsignature to the LPA 250 through the service provider app 240 as areply. The reply may include the digital signature and one or moredigital certificates for verifying the digital signature.

At step 911, the LPA 250 attempts to verify the received digitalsignature. If the digital signature verification has succeeded, the LPA250 considers that the access authority of the service provider app 240has been approved, performs the function called by the service providerapp 240 (e.g., a profile download from the profile server), and notifiesthe service provider app 240 or the service provider server 270 of theresult of performing the function.

FIG. 10 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from a profile server, when the LPA identifies a serviceprovider app by directly accessing a service provider server, accordingto an embodiment (1000).

Referring to FIG. 10, at step 1001, the service provider app 240attempts to call a specific function of the LPA 250. The correspondingaccess may be transferred to the LPA 250 through the offlineauthentication at step 301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function providedby the terminal 230 as described above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1003, the LPA 250 generates a challenge.

At step 1005, the LPA 250 directly transfers the generated challenge tothe service provider server 270 in order to request a digital signature.An address of the service provider server 270 may be preset in the LPA250, may be transferred from the service provider app 240 at step 1001,or may be input from the user.

At step 1007, the service provider server 270 obtains a digitalsignature of the profile server 280 by transferring the receivedchallenge to the profile server 280. An address of the profile server280 may be preset in the service provider server 270. The digitalsignature may be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in theprofile server 280 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 1009, the service provider server 270 sends the generateddigital signature directly to the LPA 250 as a reply. The reply mayinclude the digital signature and one or more digital certificates forverifying the digital signature.

At step 1011, the LPA 250 attempts to verify the received digitalsignature. If the digital signature verification has succeeded, the LPA250 considers that the access authority of the service provider app 240has been approved, performs the function called by the service providerapp 240 (e.g., a profile download from the profile server), and notifiesthe service provider app 240 or the service provider server 270 of theresult of performing the function.

FIG. 11 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from an eUICC and a profile server, when the LPAidentifies a service provider app by accessing a service provider serverthrough the service provider app, according to an embodiment (1100).

Referring to FIG. 11, at step 1101, the service provider app 240attempts to call a specific function of the LPA 250. The correspondingaccess may be transferred to the LPA 250 through the offlineauthentication at step 301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function providedby the terminal 230 as described above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1103, the LPA 250 may request an eUICC 260 to generate achallenge. The eUICC 260 may generate and send the generated challengeto the LPA 250 as a reply.

At step 1105, the LPA 250 may transfer the received challenge to theservice provider server 270 through the service provider app 240 inorder to request a digital signature. An address of the service providerserver 270 may be preset in the service provider app 240 or the LPA 250,or may be input from the user.

At step 1107, the service provider server 270 transfers the receivedchallenge to the profile server 280 in order to obtain a digitalsignature of the profile server 280. An address of the profile server280 may be preset in the service provider server 270. The digitalsignature may be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in theprofile server 280 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 1109, the service provider server 270 sends the generateddigital signature to the LPA 250 through the service provider app 240 asa reply. The reply may include the digital signature and one or moredigital certificates for verifying the digital signature.

At step 1111, the LPA 250 transfers the received digital signature tothe eUICC 260 in order to request verification of the digital signature.The eUICC 260 may send the verification result of the digital signatureto the LPA 250 as a reply. If the digital signature verification throughthe eUICC 260 has succeeded, the LPA 250 considers that the accessauthority of the service provider app 240 has been approved, performsthe function called by the service provider app 240 (e.g., a profiledownload from the profile server), and notifies the service provider app240 or the service provider server 270 of the result of performing thefunction.

FIG. 12 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAreceives help from an eUICC and a profile server, when the LPAidentifies a service provider app by directly accessing a serviceprovider server, according to an embodiment (1200).

Referring to FIG. 12, at step 1201, the service provider app 240attempts to call a specific function of the LPA 250. The correspondingaccess may be transferred to the LPA 250 through the offlineauthentication at step 301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function providedby the terminal 230 as described above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1203, the LPA 250 requests the eUICC 260 to generate achallenge. The eUICC 260 may generate and send the generated challengeto the LPA 250 as a reply.

At step 1205, the LPA 250 directly transfers the received challenge tothe service provider server 270 in order to request a digital signature.An address of the service provider server 270 may be preset in the LPA250, may be transferred from the service provider app 240 at operation1201, or may be input from the user.

At step 1207, the service provider server 270 transfers the receivedchallenge to the profile server 280 in order to obtain a digitalsignature of the profile server 280. An address of the profile server280 may be preset in the service provider server 270. The digitalsignature may be performed using a digital certificate pre-stored in theprofile server 280 and a corresponding secret key.

At step 1209, the service provider server 270 directly sends thegenerated digital signature to the LPA 250 as a reply. The reply mayinclude the digital signature and one or more digital certificates forverifying the digital signature.

At step 1211, the LPA 250 transfers the received digital signature tothe eUICC 260 in order to request verification of the digital signature.The eUICC 260 may send the verification result of the digital signatureto the LPA 250 as a reply. If the digital signature verification throughthe eUICC 260 has succeeded, the LPA 250 considers that the accessauthority of the service provider app 240 has been approved, performsthe function called by the service provider app 240 (e.g., a profiledownload from the profile server), and notifies the service provider app240 or the service provider server 270 of the result of performing thefunction.

FIG. 13 illustrates an online authentication procedure in which an LPAuses a key pre-shared in a service provider app and a profile server,when the LPA identifies the service provider app, according to anembodiment (1300).

Referring to FIG. 13, the service provider server 270 may store the samekey in the service provider app 240 and the profile server 280.

At step 1301, when attempting to call a specific function of the LPA250, the service provider app 240 transfers a key included in theservice provider app 240 and an operation result using the correspondingkey. The corresponding access may be transferred to the LPA 250 throughthe offline authentication at step 301 of FIG. 3, and may use thefunction provided by the terminal 230 as described above with referenceto FIG. 2A.

At step 1303, the LPA 250 transfers, to the profile server 280, the keyreceived and the operation result using the corresponding key. Anaddress of the profile server 280 may be pre-stored in the LPA 250, maybe transferred from the service provider app 240 at step 1301, or may beinput from the user.

At step 1305, the profile server 280 may verify the received key or theoperation result using the corresponding key using the key stored in theprofile server 280.

At step 1307, the profile server 280 sends the verification result tothe LPA 250 as a reply. If the verification result has succeeded, theLPA 250 considers that the access authority of the service provider app240 has been approved, performs the function called by the serviceprovider app 240 (e.g., a profile download from the profile server), andnotifies the service provider app 240 or the service provider server 270of the result of performing the function.

FIG. 14 illustrates a method in which a service provider app allows anLPA to download a profile by successively calling two specific functionsof the LPA, according to an embodiment (1400).

Referring to FIG. 14, at step 1401, the service provider app 240transfers a “Get eUICC Info” message to the LPA 250 as a first LPAfunction call. The “Get eUICC Info” message of step 1401 may betransferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1403, the LPA 250 verifies the access authority of the serviceprovider app 240 online through the service provider server 270, e.g.,according to one of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 13. Further,although not illustrated in FIG. 14, the eUICC 260 and/or the profileserver 280 may be included in the online authentication procedureaccording to circumstances, as illustrated in the FIGS. 5 to 13.

At step 1405, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theonline authentication result. In case of the “Get eUICC Info”, which isthe first LPA function call according to this embodiment, thecorresponding online authentication result may be transferred with eUICCInfo that the LPA 250 has read from the eUICC 260.

At step 1407, the service provider app 240 transfers the received eUICCInfo to the service provider server 270.

At step 1409, the service provider server 270 prepares a profile to beinstalled in the eUICC based on the received eUICC Info. The preparationof the profile may be performed in association with the specific profileserver 280, and as the result of the profile preparation, an activationcode for downloading the corresponding profile may be generated.

At step 1411, the service provider server 270 sends the generatedactivation code to the service provider app 240 as a reply.

In order to transfer the received activation code to the LPA 250, theservice provider app 240, at step 1413, transfers a “Push ActivationCode” message to the LPA 250 as a second LPA function call. The “PushActivation Code” message of step 1413 may pass through the same offlineauthentication as that described above at step 1401.

At step 1415, the LPA 250 re-perform the same online authentication asperformed at step 1403. Further, the online authentication procedure atstep 1415 with respect to the “Push Activation Code” message may includea procedure of identifying the integrity of the corresponding activationcode by transferring, to the service provider server 240, the activationcode received at step 1413 with the challenge, e.g. according to theembodiments illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 13, and requesting a digitalsignature.

At step 1417, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theonline authentication result. In case of the “Push Activation Code”,which is the second LPA function call according to this embodiment, thecorresponding online authentication result may be sent as a reply, afterthe profile at step 1419 is installed.

At step 1419, the LPA 250 downloads and installs the profile from theprofile server 280 using the activation code received at step 1413.

FIG. 15 illustrates a method in which a service provider app replaces anonline authentication by a timer operation with respect to a secondaccess, when it successively calls two specific functions of the LPA,according to an embodiment (1500).

Referring to FIG. 15, at step 1501, the service provider app 240transfers a “Get eUICC Info” message to the LPA 250 as a first LPAfunction call. The “Get eUICC Info” message of step 1501 may betransferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1503, the LPA 250 verifies the access authority of the serviceprovider app 240 online through the service provider server 270, e.g.,according to one of the embodiments of FIGS. 5 to 13. Further, althoughnot illustrated in FIG. 15, the eUICC 260 and/or the profile server 280may be included in the online authentication procedure according tocircumstances, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 13.

If the online authentication at step 1503 has succeeded, the LPA 250, atstep 1505, may operates a timer in order to simplify the accessauthority verification during a second LPA function call of thecorresponding service provider app 240.

At step 1507, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theonline authentication result. In case of the “Get eUICC Info”, which isthe first LPA function call according to this embodiment, thecorresponding online authentication result may be transferred togetherwith eUICC Info that the LPA 250 has read from the eUICC 260.

The operations at steps 1507 to 1513 are the same as steps 1405 to 1411of FIG. 14. Accordingly, a repetitive description of the steps isomitted.

In order to transfer the activation code received at step 1513 to theLPA 250, the service provider app 240, at step 1515, transfers a “PushActivation Code” message to the LPA 250 as a second LPA function call.The “Push Activation Code” message of step 1515 may pass through thesame offline authentication as that described above at step 1501.

At step 1517, the LPA 250 identifies whether the second LPA functioncall is caused by the same service provider app 240, and whether it ismade before the timer operated at step 1505 expires. If the same serviceprovider app 240 calls the function of the LPA 250 for the second time,before the timer expires, the LPA 250 may consider that an access of thecorresponding service provider app 240 has been permitted, and may omitperforming the online authentication procedure.

At step 1519, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theresult of the identification at step 1517. In FIG. 15, although theonline authentication procedure is omitted, like the embodiment of FIG.14, the online verification of the second LPA function call may not beinevitably distinguished from the result of the reply. Therefore, ifneeded, the LPA 250, at step 1519, may operate an additional timer ormay extend the operation time of the previous timer against a third LPAfunction call or the subsequent LPA function call. Further, in case ofthe “Push Activation Code”, which is the second LPA function callaccording to this embodiment, the corresponding online authenticationresult may be sent as a reply after the profile at step 1521 isinstalled.

At step 1521, the LPA 250 downloads and installs the profile from theprofile server 280 using the activation code received at step 1515.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method in which a service provider app replaces anonline authentication by a token verification with respect to a secondaccess, when it successively calls two of specific functions of the LPA,according to an embodiment (1600).

Referring to FIG. 16, at step 1601, the service provider app 240transfers a “Get eUICC Info” message to the LPA 250 as a first LPAfunction call. The “Get eUICC Info” message of step 1601 may betransferred to the LPA 250 through the offline authentication at step301 of FIG. 3, and may use the function provided by the terminal 230 asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 2A.

At step 1603, the LPA 250 verifies the access authority of the serviceprovider app 240 online through the service provider server 270, e.g.,according to one of the embodiments of FIGS. 5 to 13. Further, althoughnot illustrated in FIG. 16, the eUICC 260 and/or the profile server 280may be included in the online authentication procedure according tocircumstances, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 13.

If the online authentication at step 1603 has succeeded, the LPA 250, atstep 1605, issues a token in order to simplify the access authorityverification during a second LPA function call of the correspondingservice provider app 240. The token may be used with restriction invalidity such as in the following list, but such restriction is notlimited thereto.

-   -   Usable number of times    -   Lifetime

At step 1607, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theonline authentication result at step 1603. In case of the “Get eUICCInfo”, which is the first LPA function call according to thisembodiment, the corresponding online authentication result may betransferred together with eUICC Info that the LPA 250 has read from theeUICC 260. Further, at step 1607, the LPA 250 may also transfer thetoken issued at step 1605 to the service provider app 240.

The operations at steps 1607 to 1613 are the same as steps 1405 to 1411of FIG. 14, and therefore, a repetitive description of the steps isomitted.

In order to transfer the activation code received at step 1613 to theLPA 250, the service provider app 240, at step 1615, transfers a “PushActivation Code” message to the LPA 250 as a second LPA function call.At step 1615, the service provider app 240 may also transfer the tokenreceived at step 1607 to the LPA 250. The Push Activation Code” messageof step 1615 may pass through the same offline authentication as thatdescribed above at step 1601.

At step 1617, the LPA 250 identifies whether the second LPA functioncall at step 1615 is caused by the same service provider app 240, andwhether the token received at step 1615 is valid by comparing it withthe token issued at step 1605. If the same service provider app 240calls the function of the LPA 250 for the second time using the validtoken, the LPA 250 may consider that an access of the correspondingservice provider app 240 has been permitted, and may omit the onlineauthentication procedure.

At step 1619, the LPA 250 notifies the service provider app 240 of theresult of the identification at step 1617. In FIG. 16, although theonline authentication procedure is omitted, like the embodiment of FIG.14, the online verification of the second LPA function call may not beinevitably distinguished from the result of the reply. Therefore, ifneeded, the LPA 250, at step 1619, may issue a new token or may updatethe validity of the previously issued token against a third LPA functioncall or the subsequent LPA function call. Further, in case of the “PushActivation Code”, which is the second LPA function call according tothis embodiment, the corresponding online authentication result may besent as a reply after the profile at step 1621 is installed.

At step 1621, the LPA 250 downloads and installs the profile from theprofile server 280 using the activation code received at step 1613.

FIG. 17 illustrates a terminal according to an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 17, a terminal 1700 includes a transceiver 1710, acontroller 1720, and a UICC 1730. The UICC 1730 may be inserted into theterminal 1700, or may be embedded in the terminal 1700.

The transceiver 1710 may transmit and receive signals, information, anddata.

The controller 1720 may control the overall operation of the terminal1700, e.g., according to the methods illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 16.

Further, the UICC 1730 may download a profile and install the downloadedprofile. In addition, the UICC 1730 may manage the profile. The UICC1730 may operate under the control of the controller 1720. Further, theUICC 1730 may include a processor or a controller for installing theprofile, or an application may be installed therein.

For example, in a wireless communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the terminal 1700 may include thecontroller 1720 for controlling second software to call a function offirst software and preparing a signature request message (challenge) forauthority verification of the second software, and the transceiver 1710for transmitting the signature request message to a service providerserver to request a digital signature and receiving the digitalsignature from the service provider server.

Further, the controller 1720 may further include a determination unitfor verifying the digital signature using a digital certificate. If thedigital signature verification through the service provider server hassucceeded, the controller 1720 and the determination unit may omit anadditional authority verification of the second software thereafter.

Additionally, the terminal 1700 may include the controller 1720 forcontrolling an eUICC, and the transceiver 1710 for transmitting aprofile request message to a profile server SM-DP+ and receiving aprofile downloaded from the profile server.

FIG. 18 illustrates a server according to an embodiment. For example, aserver 1800 of FIG. 18 may be a profile server or a service providerserver. Referring to FIG. 18, the server 1800 includes a transceiver1810 and a controller 1820.

The transceiver 1810 may transmit and receive signals, information, anddata. For example, the transceiver 1810 may communicate with a terminalor another server (or network entity) such that it receives a requestfrom the terminal, and transmits a profile and a digital signature tothe terminal.

The controller 1820 may control the overall operation of the server1800, e.g., according to the methods illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 16.

For example, if the server 1800 is a service provider server in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the server 1800 may include the controller 1820 forreceiving a signature request message from a terminal or first or secondsoftware included in the terminal, determining whether a digitalsignature can be generated, and generating the digital signature.Further, the server 1800 may transfer the signature request message to aprofile server using the controller 1820 and the transceiver 1810, ifgeneration of the digital signature is not possible. The server 1800 mayreceive the digital signature from the profile server, or may transmitthe digital signature to the terminal or the first or second softwareincluded in the terminal.

According to the above-described embodiments of the present disclosure,if second software intends to call a function of an LPA, the LPA of aterminal may identify whether the second software is verified softwarein the terminal, and may identify an access authority of the secondsoftware through a network server. Accordingly, the LPA can preventthird unverified software from accessing the LPA, and can notify thenetwork server that the second software intends to access the LPA.

Further, if the second software intends to call the function of the LPAtwo or more times, the LPA of the terminal may permit the secondsoftware to make an access in accordance with the above-describedprocedure with respect to the initial access, and may omit an accessauthority identification of the second software through the networkserver with respect to the accesses two or more times. Accordingly, theLPA can reduce a burden of the access authority verification and canshorten the verification time in the case where successive LPA accessesare requested from the already verified software.

Although various embodiments of the present disclosure have beendescribed above in the specification and drawings, these are merelyexamples presented to help understanding of the present disclosure, andare not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.Accordingly, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artto which the present disclosure pertains that various modifications canbe realized based on the technical concept of the present disclosure.

Further, respective embodiments may be combined to be operated asneeded. For example, parts of different embodiments of the presentdisclosure may be combined to operate a base station and a terminal.Further, although the above-described embodiments are presented based onan LTE/LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) system, other modifications based on thetechnical concept of the embodiments can be applied to other systems,such as 5G or New Radio (NR) systems.

While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present disclosure as defined by the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method performed by a terminal including auniversal integrated circuit card (UICC), the terminal having anapplication and a local profile assistant (LPA) installed therein, themethod comprising: receiving, from the application, by the LPA of theterminal, a function call requesting a challenge of the UICC of theterminal; delivering, to the UICC, by the LPA of the terminal, a requestfor the challenge of the UICC; obtaining, from the UICC, by the LPA ofthe terminal, the challenge generated by the UICC, in response to therequest; transmitting, to a first server associated with an operator, bythe application which obtained the challenge from the LPA, a firstmessage generated based on the challenge, the first message beingtransmitted by the application; receiving, from the first server, by theapplication, a second message including a signature generated by asecond server providing a profile, the signature being generated for thechallenge; and validating the signature by the UICC of the terminalwhich obtained the signature from the LPA and the application.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the application is-installed in the terminalis authorized by the operator, and wherein the second message isreceived from the first server by the application.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein a request for the signature is transmitted from thefirst server to the second server, and wherein the signature isgenerated by the second server based on a digital certificate.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from the second server,a command related to a profile for the UICC.
 5. A terminal including auniversal integrated circuit card (UICC), the terminal having anapplication and a local profile assistant (LPA) installed therein, theterminal comprising: a transceiver; and a controller coupled with thetransceiver and configured to: receive, from the application, by the LPAof the terminal, a function call requesting a challenge of the UICC ofthe terminal, deliver, to the UICC, by the LPA of the terminal, arequest for the challenge of the UICC, obtain, from the UICC, by the LPAof the terminal, the challenge generated by the UICC, in response to therequest, transmit, to a first server associated with an operator by theapplication which obtained the challenge from the LPA, a first messagegenerated based on the challenge, the first message being transmitted bythe application, receive, from the first server, by the application, asecond message including a signature generated by a second serverproviding a profile, the signature being generated for the challenge,and validate the signature by the UICC of the terminal which obtainedthe signature from the LPA and the application.
 6. The terminal of claim5, wherein the application is-installed in the terminal is authorized bythe operator, and wherein the second message is received from the firstserver by the application.
 7. The terminal of claim 5, wherein a requestfor the signature is transmitted from the first server to the secondserver, and wherein the signature is generated by the second serverbased on a digital certificate.
 8. The terminal of claim 5, wherein thecontroller is further configured to control the transceiver to receive,from the second server, a command related to a profile for the UICC. 9.A method for communicating with a terminal performed by a first serverassociated with an operator, the terminal including a universalintegrated circuit card (UICC) and having an application and a localprofile assistant (LPA) installed therein, the method comprising:receiving, from the application of the terminal, a first messagegenerated based on a challenge generated by the UICC of the terminal,the challenge being generated in response to a request by the LPA forthe challenge of the UICC; and transmitting, to the application of theterminal, a second message including a signature generated by a secondserver providing a profile, the signature being generated for thechallenge, wherein a function call requesting the challenge of the UICCis received from the application by the LPA of the terminal, wherein therequest is delivered to the UICC by the LPA, and wherein the signatureis validated by the UICC which obtained the signature from the LPA andthe application.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the applicationis-installed in the terminal is authorized by the operator, and whereinthe second message is received by the terminal by using the application.11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting, to thesecond server, a request for the signature; and receiving, from thesecond server, the signature generated by the second server using adigital certificate.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the secondserver transmits a command related to a profile for the UICC to theterminal.
 13. A first server for communicating with a terminal, theterminal including a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) and havingan application and a local profile assistant (LPA) installed therein,the first server comprising: a transceiver; and a controller coupledwith the transceiver and configured to: control the transceiver toreceive, from the application of the terminal, a first message generatedbased on a challenge generated by the UICC of the terminal, thechallenge being generated in response to a request by the LPA for thechallenge of the UICC, and control the transceiver to transmit, to theapplication of the terminal, a second message including a signaturegenerated by a second server providing a profile, the signature beinggenerated for the challenge, wherein a function call requesting thechallenge of the UICC is received from the application by the LPA of theterminal, wherein the request is delivered to the UICC by the LPA, andwherein the signature is validated by the UICC which obtained thesignature from the LPA and the application.
 14. The first server ofclaim 13, wherein the application is-installed in the terminal isauthorized by the operator, and wherein the second message is receivedby the terminal by using the application.
 15. The first server of claim13, wherein the controller is further configured to: control thetransceiver to transmit, to the second server, a request for thesignature, and control the transceiver to receive, from the secondserver, the signature generated by the second server using a digitalcertificate.
 16. The first server of claim 13, wherein the second servertransmits a command related to a profile for the UICC to the terminal.